November 07, 2019

Tis the Season for Pickled Ferns and Ice Cream


Tis the Season for Pickled Ferns and Ice Cream
Pickles with a Far Eastern twist.  retsept v zakladku

Quote of the Week

“Despite the well-established rule, eating ice cream while one has a sore throat or a cough is not harmful. It is reasonably nutritious, and the chill helps with pain.”

– A Russian doctor quoted by the government agency Roskachestvo, disagreeing with every other Russian. It’s cold and flu season; stay healthy, and (apparently) eat cold dairy products. 

 

Pickles, Playgrounds, and Part-Time Jobs

1. Russians are certainly not in a pickle when it comes to the production of canned food: they have figured it out quite well, with the help of not only family recipes, but also the internet. From August through the middle of October, there were 35 million Yandex (basically, Russian Google) searches about storing food for the winter. The most popular searches among preserves were for cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, plums and currents, but ferns are the thing to pickle in the Far East. The overall number of searches declined this year, however, probably due to the relatively poor harvest, but pickled cabbage and mushrooms became more popular this year versus last. Yet it’s hard to imagine how Russians could become even more excited about cabbage and mushrooms.

2. Gryaz might mean “dirt,” but a playground in the town Gryazi, Lipetsk Oblast, is anything but trashy. Pensioner Sergei Borodin built the playground entirely from recycled materials. He started with a concrete block left over from a construction project, which he painted to look like a train from a Russian cartoon. When it became popular with local kids, Borodin added a swing set, then a ship and sandbox, then cottages, a traditional Russian oven, and more, all made with materials like scrap metal, old tires and broken bricks, and decorated with distinctively Russian fairytale flair. A project like this is certainly not child’s play; Borodin has won multiple awards for his hard work, and, of course, the gratitude of the children.  

Russian pensioner who built a playground
This playground is a game changer for the community. / Vesti Lipetsk

3. Getting a side job may no longer be a foreign concept to students studying abroad in Russia. Valentina Matviyenko, chair of the Federation Council, announced plans to introduce a law to the Duma that would give foreign students the right to earn some money on the side while at university. According to her, this right to get a side job, “just like we all did, just like Russian students do,” will make Russia a more attractive destination for foreign students. The law is planned to be adopted by the end of this fall, which means that, as early as next year, foreign students studying in Russia could earn side-rubles to pay for all the travel, nightlife, and cultural events that may have drawn them to Russia in the first place. 

 

In Odder News

  • In general, Russians are spooked by Halloween and refuse to celebrate, but those that do pushed up pumpkin prices 30 percent this year. 
  • Got milk? Moscow does. The region has gained 20 dairy farms in the last 5 years.  
  • A man in Kaliningrad caught a 57 lb (26 kg) fish. Even though he definitely doesn’t have bigger fish to fry, he still chose not to fry this one, but rather release it for other fishermen to enjoy.
Giant fish caught in Russia
That is a very big fish in a (relatively) small pond, Karpovoye Ozero. / Vesti

 

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.
 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
At the Circus

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Best of Russian Life

The Best of Russian Life

We culled through 15 years of Russian Life to select readers’ and editors’ favorite stories and biographies for inclusion in a special two-volume collection. Totalling over 1100 pages, these two volumes encompass some of the best writing we have published over the last two decades, and include the most timeless stories and biographies – those that can be read again and again.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
PO Box 567
Montpelier VT 05601-0567

802-223-4955